Automatic water-discharge valve for hydraulic oil-dispensing systems



April 27 1926.

1,582,857 W. J. PETER -AUTOIATIQ WATER DISCHARGE VALVE FOR HYDRAULIC OIL DISPENSING SYSTEMS Filed July 15, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f 6 I JfgT/ 4 INVENTOR Jan ATTORNEY5 April 27 1926.

W. J. PETER AUTOMATIC WATER DISCHARGE VALVE FOR HYDRAULIC OIL DISPENSING SYSTEMS Filed Jul 15, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Apr. 27, 1926.

UNITED WILLIAM J. PETER, OF NEW YQRK, N. Y.

AUTOMATIC WATER-DISCHARGE VALVE FOR HYDRAULIC OHHDISPENSING SYSTEMS- Appllcatlqn filed July 15, 1925. Serial No. 48,702-

- new and useful Improvements in Automatic oil overlying the water.

Water-Discharge Valves for Hydraulic Oil- Dispensing Systems; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it gppertains to make and use the same.

1s invention relates to hydraulic systems for storing, handling and delivering oil, and more particularly to means for filling such systems with oil and automatically controlling the quantity of oil introduced.

In hydraulic systems for storing, handling and delivering oil, the storage tank is always filled. with liquid, oil and water, the In dispensing, the oil is forced out through 'a pipe in the top of the tank by forcing water in through the bottom. In filling the tank with oil the pressure is reversed, the oil being forced in through the top of the tank and the water out through the bottom and to waste. In order to prevent oil from following the water into the drain some means must be provided, either for indicating that the tank has been filled, or for automatically arresting the flow.

In my co-pending application, Serial No.

. 18,7 83, filed March 27, 1925, I have disclosed and claimed mechanism for automatically arresting the influx of the oil when the tank has been filled. This mechanism comprises a valve situated in the oil intake pipe nor mally open and connected to a float situated near the bottom of the tank and designed to float in water and sink in oil. When the oil level, during the filling operation, reaches the float it sinks and automatically closes the intake valve, thus eflectively preventing further influx of oil and making it impossible for any oil to follow the water through the water discharge pipe and to the sewer.

In accordance with the present invention I have devised a mechanism for accomplishing this same result by providing the water discharge pipe with a valve and providing float operated meansfor automatically closing this valve when a predetermined amount of oil has been introduced into the tank, the water discharge pipe. being so constructed that the cut-off valve is situated near the top of the tank and the controlling valve near the bottom. There is thus a substantial distance between the oil level and the valve at the time of the cut-ofi' and the water discharge pipe between the float and the valve being filled with water at this time, there is no possibility that oil may escape past the valve as it is closing and pass'to waste.

During the operation of filling the tank with oil, the Source of hydraulic pressure employed during the dispensing operation of the tank is shut off and is not again put in communication with the tank until the oil is to be dispensed. Hence, at the time when the tank has been filled, the valve in the water discharge pipe automatically closed and the cap placed upon the oil intake pipe, the tank is completely sealed. In order to prevent of the contained liquid during this period, I provide the tank with some sort of pressure relief means. As soon as the tank is used to dispense oil and the oil level rises beyond the float, the valve in the water pipe is automatically opened and the tank is rupture due to expansion thereafter never under pressure greater than that of the hydraulic operating means, and when not in operation is actually open to the sewer.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated, more or less diagrammatically, certain preferred embodiments of my invention. In these drawings Figure 1 is a longitudinal section through a tank equipped with the water discharge control valve of the present invention, the section through the valve being taken along line 11 of Figure 3; Figure 2 is a similar view of a modified form of construction in which the water discharge pipe is external of the tank; Figure 3 is a plan view of a manhole cover on which the valve housing of the water discharge control valve is mounted, as well as the valve housing 'of the oil discharge control valve, the construction and operation of which is described and claimed in my co-pending application, Serial No. 18,- 7 82, filed March 27, 1925; Fi re 4 is a section taken along line ing the construction of the oil discharge control valve and'ts operating mechanism which forms no part :of the present inven 4---4 of igure 3 showwith a modified-form of valve and showing the connection between the float and the valve extending within the water discharge p1pe.

Referring first to Figure 1, the storage tank is indicated by reference numeral 1. This is-the ordinary cylindrical storage tank used in most systems and is commonly placed within an excavation with its longitudinal axis horizontal. The oil is introduced through an intake pipe'2 equipped with a filling plug 3 and discharged through a riser 4 having a valve 5, both pipe 2 and riser 4 entering the top of thetank as indicated, while the water is introduced and discharged through a pipe 6. which enters the tank at the top and extends downwardly to a point near the bottom. In the system illustrated the water pressure is obtained by maintaining. a constant head in a riser which is connected with the pipe 6 through a valve 8. The upper end of the riser 7 terminates in a fioat'box 9 into which water is fed through a feeder pipe 10 from any convenient source, such as the city water mains, the level of the water in the float box being automatically maintained constant by means of a float valve 11. A valve 12 placed between the pipe 6 and the drain 13 controls the connection between the tank and the drain. Valves 8 and 12 are preferably operated simultaneously by means of a valve rod 14'and the connections are so designed that when valve 8 is opened, valve 12 is closed, and vice-versa.

The system just described is commonly own as a constant head hydraulic system and, of itself, forms no part of the present invention. I shall. however, describe briefly the manner in which this system operates; During the filling of the tank, valve 8 is closed and valve 12 opened. thus connecting the water pipe 6 with the drain 13. Oil is then forced into the pipe 2 and forces the water out through the pipe 6 to the drain. During delivery of oil the valve 8 is opened and the valve 12 closed so that the pressure of the constant head maintained in riser 7 by the float valve 11 forces oil up the riser 4 ard out. When the tank is not in actual use, valve 8is preferably closed and valve 12 opened so that the tank is not under pres sure. The valve 5 thus acts merely as a lockmg means and does notnecessarily form a part of the operating mechanism.

The present invention relates to the water discharge control valve and its attendant mechanism which I shall now describe in detail. The upper end of that part of the .water discharge pipe 6 which lies within the tank leads into a valve housing 15 integral with a manhole cover 16 and thence to an outer section of the pipe 6 to the'drain 13. Mounted within the valve housing 15 is a valve 17 adapted, when closed, to be seated lower end of a bar 25 depending from the manhole cover 16. The end of the float stem 26 beyond the pivot point is connected by means of a rod 27 with a bellcrank lever 28 also pivoted upon the bar 25. The upper end of the bellcrank lever 28 is designed to contact with the lower end of the arm 21 and when swung upward to close the valve. The float 23 is designed to float in water, but sink in oil and thus the position of the valve 17 is determined by the oil and water level in the tank.

The water-discharge control valve operates as follows during the filling of the tank with oil: Assuming that the tank is filled with water and that it is necessary to refill it with oil, the valve 8 is closed and the valve 12 opened, throwing the tank into communication with the sewer. As the tank is now full of water the float 23 is in its uppermost position. and the valve 17 therefore open, as shown in Figure 1. A hose from a tank wagon or other source of supply is con nected to the filling plug 3 of the intake pipe 2 and oil permitted to flow by gravity'into the tank, displacing because of its greater head, the water, which is forced out through pipe 6 past the open valves 17 and 12 to waste. As long as the oil'and water level,

remains above the float 23 and more oil is forthcoming, this action will continue. when, however, the oil reaches the float 23,

the latter sinks thereby swingin the valve '17 into closed position upon t e seat 18 .and arresting. further discharge of" water. The moment valve 17 is closed, further influx of oil is automatically stopped. It will be noted that the force of the water current flowing past the valve is sufliclent of itself to seat the valve the moment it is swung into the path of flow. Thus, the clos ing action is quick and positive, and, due to the position of the float occurs before the oil level has reached the open end of the pipe 6, hence, there can be no danger of oil escaping to the sewer.

It will be observed that after the valve 17 is closed at the termination ofthe filling operation and the plug 3 closed, the system is completely closed and will remain so until the oil is to be delivered. Thus during this period any expansion of the liquid in the tank, due to a rise in temperature, might cause trouble. I therefore provide pressure relief means in the form of a pipe 30 communicating with the tank through the valve housing 15. This pipe is provided with a valve 31 which can be opened at the termithrough riser 4. The

water is suflicient to swlng the.

housing 15 and nation of the filling operation and thus permit the liquid in the tank danger. The system is closed, however, only until delivering begins when the valves 8 and 5 are opened and the valve 31 closed. Water from the float box 9 thus flows through pipe 6 past the closed valve 17, swinging the latter downwardin its passage, and into the tank, thereby forcing oil out ressure of the inflowing valve 17 from its seat. As soon, however, as suflicient oil has been dispensed to raise the oil and water level to the float 23, the lat+ ter rises swinging the outer end of the bellcrank lever 28 downward thus permitting v drop by its own weight into the valve 17 to open position where it remains during the rest of the normal operation of the tank. As the valve 12 is opened when the valve 8 is closed and no oil is being delivered, the system is open to the sewer when idle and there is no possibility of danger from expansion.

In Figure 2 I have illustrated a construction which is identical in every way with that shown in Figure 1 except that here the pipe 6 is externalof the tank. The operation is the same and need not be repeated.

In order to to simplify-the installation, I mount the oil discharge control valve and the ,water discharge control valve on -a single manhole cover as illustrated in Figure 3. The oil discharge control valve 32 is contained within .a housing 33 similar to the is structurally Very similar to valve 17, just described. The operation of this valve which isillustrated in detail in Figure 4 has been co-pending application Serial No. 18,782 and as it forms no part of the present invention will not be repeated here,

In Figure 5 I have illustrated a still further modified construction. Here the float 23 is pivoted upon and directly supported by the pipe and the connecting rod 27 passes through the pipe 6 tothe valve 34 which is mounted for vertical -movement directly abovethe lower section of the pipe 6 and enclosed within a housing 35. The operation 1s exactly the same as that described in Figure 1, except that here there are fewer parts intermediate the float 23 and the valve.

Instead of providing a pressure relief pipe opening into the air and provided with a manually operated valve I have illustrated in Figure 5 a pipe 36 extending from the to expand without described fully in my intake, a water the oil level reaches valve housin 35 just below the valve and entering the oat box 9 above the water level. Any water forced out of this pipe due to expansion of the tank will simply be returned to the system through the float box 9. As no oil can rise within the pipe 6 there is no danger that any oil will be discharged through the pipe 36. This same result can be obtained by running the pipe 36 into the pipe 7 above the water control valve and placing acheck valve in the pipe 36 prevent-' ing'downward movement of water through the pipe 36 and into the tank.

I claim:

1. In a hydraulic oil storage and delivery system, the combination of a tank, an oil intake, a water discharge pipe opening at or near the bottom of the tank and extending to or near the top, a valve in situated near the top of the tank, a float near the bottom of the tank designed to float in the water pipe water and sink in oil, and means connecting the'float and the valve so that when the oil level reaches the float, the valve is closed.

2. In a hydraulic oil storage and delivery system, the combination of a tank, an oil in take, a water discharge pipe, a valve in the water pipe, and a float withinthe tank situated'a substantial distance below the valve for closing the valve reaches the float thereby preventing further discharge of water and influx of oil.

3. In a hydraulic oil storage and delivery system, the combination of a tank, an oil intake, a water discharge pipe extending from the top of the tank to. a point near the bottom, a valve in the pipe near the top of the tank, a float designed to float in water and sink in oil, mounted near the lower end of the pipe and means connecting the float and the valve so that when the oil level reaches the float the valve is closed. 4. In a hydraulic oil storage and system, the combination of a tank, an oil discharge pipe extending from the top of the tank to a point near the bottom, a valve in the pipe near the top of when the oil level delivery the tank, a float designed to float in water and sink in oil pivotally mounted upon the lower end of the pipe and a rod connecting the float and the valve and extending through the pipe in such a manner that when WILLIAM J. PETER.

signature.

the float the valve is 

